Mistrust

Dame Glynis M. Breakwell is Professor Emeritus at the University of Bath in the Department of Psychology and has Visiting Professorships at Imperial College, London and the University of Surrey. Her research focuses upon identity process theory, social influence and social representation processes, leadership in complex organisations, and the psychology of risk management, perception, and communication. She has published more than 20 books, several of which are on research methods. She has been an adviser to both public and private sector organisations on the use of psychological methods and theories, especially concerning responses to public crises and major emergencies.

Amid the social, political and economic upheaval the world is currently experiencing, not least as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding the social psychological processes that explain why and how mistrust develops in society has never been more important. In this ground-breaking volume, Breakwell offers a comprehensive social psychological framework, focusing on multiple levels, for examining both the effects on the mistrustful and those who are mistrusted. Anyone interested in the psychology of uncertainty and mistrust and, crucially, how it can be addressed in policy and practice should read this book.

• CHAPTER 1: THE NATURE OF MISTRUSTCHAPTER 2: RISK AND MISTRUSTCHAPTER 3: SHARED UNCERTAINTYCHAPTER 4: IDENTITY, EMOTIONS AND MISTRUSTCHAPTER 5: IMAGES OF THE MISTRUSTEDCHAPTER 6: LEADERSHIP AND MISTRUSTCHAPTER 7: COMMUNICATION CHANNELS FOR INCITING MISTRUSTCHAPTER 8: WEAPONISING MISTRUST: DISINFORMATION AND PROPAGANDACHAPTER 9: CONSPIRACY THEORIESCHAPTER 10: MODELLING MISTRUST PROCESSES